Cheddar

What is Cheddar Cheese?

Cheddar comes from the village of Cheddar in Somerset, in South West England. The caves of Cheddar Gorge held the steady temperature and humidity that maturing cheese needs, and the cheese traditionally had to be made within 30 mi (48 km) of Wells Cathedral.

The Somerset dairyman Joseph Harding standardised production in the 19th century and has been called the father of cheddar. He and his wife took cheddar to Scotland and North America, and his sons carried it to Australia and New Zealand. During the Second World War most British milk went into a single rationed cheese nicknamed government cheddar. Britain had more than 3,500 cheese producers before the First World War and fewer than 100 after the Second.

Rennet separates the curds from the whey, usually animal rennet from the stomachs of newborn calves, while vegetarian and kosher versions use chymosin from bacteria, yeast or mould. Cheddaring is the step that gives the cheese its name: after heating, the curd is kneaded with salt, cut into cubes to drain the whey, then stacked and turned. Strong vintage cheddar needs 15 months or more, and some is still matured in the caves at Wookey Hole and Cheddar Gorge. Some versions are smoked.

The texture is firm, and traditional farmhouse cheddar is slightly crumbly. Mature cheese carries large calcium lactate crystals, which often form past six months. Classical cheddar tastes sharp and pungent, often slightly earthy, and that sharpness tracks the level of bitter peptides. Colour runs from pale to deep yellow, or yellow-orange when annatto is added, which can also give a sweet, nutty flavour. Harding described the ideal in 1864 as "close and firm in texture, yet mellow in character or quality", with a flavour approaching hazelnut.

Cheddar is the most popular cheese in the UK, 51% of a £1.9 billion annual cheese market, and second in the United States behind mozzarella at about 10 lb (4.5 kg) per person each year. Australians eat around 17 lb (7.5 kg) a head and buy it by strength alone, labelled mild, tasty or sharp. British grades are mild, medium, mature, extra mature and vintage; American shops add New York style, white and Vermont. Canadian cheddar cheese soup is served at the Canada Pavilion at Epcot.